Well, the Philadelphia Qualifiers episode of American Ninja Warrior aired this past Monday, June 27th, 2016, at 9pm EST. You may have noticed that Mike’s “hometown segment” was cut — but, luckily, he was still featured briefly which was very cool!

They announced his name, city, and occupation, and said that he had the biggest and best cheering section. They showed a portion of his run (he made it to the 4th obstacle of 6! Pretty good for a newbie.) and showed a portion of his fans in the audience. While we were bummed that the hometown interviews were cut last-minute, we were very excited and proud to see him on TV representing his students, his gym, and the City of Pittsburgh!

Mike did amazingly well for a rookie and he hopes to be back for Season 9. I pray that he does, in fact, get that opportunity! It is amazing to be blessed with the physical ability to even be able to attempt something like that in the first place, as everyone is not so lucky, and he should be amazingly proud of his performance in Season 8. The takeaway from this, at least in my eyes, is nothing but positive.

Onward and upward to next year, though. I hope he gets the shot he deserves!

Some still photos are below and there will be more screengrabs to come. You can watch re-runs of the American Ninja Warrior Season 8 Philadelphia Qualifiers on Esquire, and NBC OnDemand. You can also watch the full episode online, here or on YouTube.

PS: A special thank-you to Healthline.com for featuring mine & Mike’s story  and to ANW host Matt Iseman for giving it a little shout-out on Twitter. Also super-grateful for all the other media coverage and press he’s gotten.

PSS: A big thank you to Heavy.com for featuring Mike’s photo on their website and in their article about American Ninja Warrior’s Philadelphia Qualifiers.

And thanks again to American Ninja Warrior and the Ninja Warrior franchise, A. Deign + Co., NBC, Esquire, American Ninja Warrior Nation, and Pittsburgh Kettlebell & Performance.